“You shouldn’t be walking so much. Have you forgotten you’re pregnant?”
The corner of her mouth kicks upward in a sly grin. My gaze shouldn’t linger so heavily on that smile, but my eyes are magnetized by them.
“I thought you were reading those pregnancy books you bought?”
I raise an eyebrow.
“You should’ve read the part where exercise is actually good for a healthy pregnancy.”
She has me there.
“Dr. Slosher cleared me for exercise weeks ago. And considering I had a regular workout routine before I got pregnant, a little walking on a commute to work isn’t going to do any harm. It’s actually a good thing.”
I saw the reports from her doctor in New York clearing her to resume her normal lifestyle since the hematoma healed. I wouldn’t have had her move all of the way over here if she hadn’t been given the okay.
“What about when the baby comes?” I ask.
Her confident expression briefly falters.
“We have six months to figure that out,” she says, her voice slightly lower than before.
I move closer, making her take a step back. I’m overcome with a sudden desire to be in her orbit, for her hips to be in between my hands.
Which is how I find my hands wrapped around her waist, bracing her back against the door. Alyssia lets out a surprised gasp.
“What are you doing?” she asks in a whisper. Her eyes dart toward the door the owner of this apartment exited not too long ago.
Truth be told, I haven’t given any of this much thought. All I know is that I wanted my hands on her. To make sure she’s actually real, here on the same side of the world as me again.
“I’m not moving into your apartment, Travis,” she says, her voice low but strong. She’s not ready to budge yet.
I don’t say anything for a long while. I take the opportunity to search out the war playing in her eyes. I can’t read her expressions yet and that pisses me off.
“I won’t argue,” I say before dipping my head until our mouths almost touch. “Only because I don’t want to increase your stress load right now.”
I drop my eyes to her belly to find my thumbs languidly stroking over her abdomen. Though her clothing separates the skin-on-skin contact, tiny sparks of heat rush through me.
Alyssia’s breathing intensifies in the silence.
I lower my head another tenth of an inch, almost bringing our lips to touch, satisfied when she doesn’t pull away. The idea to kiss her into submission crosses my mind.
The moment it does, however, Inés re-enters the apartment. Her footsteps come to a sudden stop.
Alyssia’s the first one to pull away.
“I’ll take the apartment,” she blurts out, breathless.
My fucking heart sinks and my damn phone starts ringing again.
CHAPTER 17
Travis
“What the hell did you just say?” Tristan booms on the other end of the phone.
“I told you he was going to flip out,” Annalise unhelpfully adds from her end of this three-way call.
“I’ve already told Chloe. You’re last because I knew you’d be like this.”
